UoP staff member wins Portsmouth’s Volunteer of the Year Award

Hayley Wheeler from UoP Global has won the Volunteer of the Year Award 2019 at the annual Shaping Portsmouth Conference. The Award was presented to Hayley by the Lord Mayor in recognition of her remarkable charity work.

Many staff will be familiar with Hayley’s charity projects such as “It’s Pants on the Streets” and the annual “Reverse Advent Calendar” which saw donations flood in from across the University and the wider community. In fact, the most recent appeal was so successful, the recipients LifeHouse (a charity supporting Portsmouth’s homeless) were able to share donations with the Southern Domestic Abuse Service and local food banks, benefiting people all across the city.

Hayley encourages friends and colleagues to donate time as well as gifts, and organised UoP staff and Student Ambassadors to help at the LifeHouse in December and January. This gave regular volunteers a well-earned night off and staff the opportunity to witness the vital work carried out by LifeHouse.

When collecting her award, Hayley thanked everyone who had become involved with these projects. “They were successful because they struck a chord – so many people became engaged and wanted to help. Small things can make a big difference; it’s not about raising huge sums of money – just knowing someone cares can have a real impact on another person’s life.”

Hayley has a number of new ideas about helping the local community in the coming year. To see how you or your department can get involved, contact hayley.wheeler@port.ac.uk.

The Shaping Portsmouth Conference brings together people from businesses, education and organisations. It showcases collaborative projects happening across the city, celebrates local achievement and previews exciting future initiatives. For more information visit http://shapingportsmouth.co.uk/.